On BlackFeathered Wings
by Ai7
Summary: "The way you wield that blade, boy. It's almost as if you were born to kill." "No one was born to kill."~The tale of a pure heart into the deepest pits of darkness (may contain SPOILERS)


Hi!!! It¡¯s me again, the ever-irritating *Ai*¡­with my first multi-chaptered fic ever!!! Please enjoy, and remember to review!!!!

Disclaimer: No, these gorgeously-dark characters aren¡¯t mine. _None of them. Come on, throw me a bone here¡­_

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**~*On Black-Feathered Wings*~**

_The inn._

He fought to lift his leaden feet, blinking furiously as the man walking in front of him suddenly phased into two separate images. He swallowed hard against the bitterness of bile rising in the back of his throat, gritting his teeth as a scream of pain lanced across his side. Cold rain slapped his face furiously, the wind howling in his ears as it bit through his soaked clothing. 

But in a way, he was grateful for the rain.

In the rain, his hair seemed a darker brown, and no one would see its true color.

And in the rain, no one would see the tears streaming down his face.

The bitter aftertaste of sake lingered on his tongue, and he lurched against a wall as his stomach gave a violent heave. _Not now, not here¡­ Too much attention¡­ __The inn¡ª He blinked blearily, his head seeming too heavy for his neck as he waited for the world around him to stop spinning. Thunder crashed loudly in the skies, the angry vibrations ripping through his oversensitive hearing, roaring into his brain with all the wrath and fury of the thunder gods. His vision exploded with red and black splashes of pain as he clapped his hands to his ears with a cry, staggering into motion once more. _

_Almost there¡ª_

His injury shrieked with pain, agony tearing through his jumbled nerves as he fought to stay on his feet. 

_I just have to make it¡ªalmost there¡ª_

His teeth were clenched tightly against the cry of pain that fought on his tongue, his head throbbing with his very effort¡ª

_Almost there¡ª_

His mind burst in horrific agony as a merchant hurrying by smashed carelessly into his injured side, his smaller frame easily shoved aside by the heavy set of the older man. He choked on a sob as the sudden onset of unbearable pain laced through his very core, binding itself to his every nerve until he was sure his lungs would stop any second. He struggled to drag in enough air, fighting at the dark edges closing in around his vision as his legs folded in beneath him like thin matchsticks. Collapsing to his knees, he barely registered the irritated growl of the merchant before heavy footsteps and the familiar rush of moving _ki__ relayed that the merchant had hastened on._

He squeezed his eyes shut tightly against the rising burn of tears, his arms straining as he pushed himself up from the ground. He was faintly aware of a few passersby who had stopped to watch his plight, their eyes roving curiously over his wet, muddy form as he shook his head in an attempt to clear his vision. 

Quite frankly, he was getting too exhausted to care.

He pressed a hand to his wounded side, grimacing as the muddied cloth stuck painfully to his lacerated flesh. Alarmed at the growing, wet warmth between his fingers, he quickly snatched his hand away¡ª

And stared.

There was a dark reddish splash in the middle of his palm, dripping lethargically in thick rivulets down his fingers, lacing across his flesh in an intricate scarlet pattern. It almost seemed to pulsate slightly, burning as it seemed to draw from his warmth, leaving him cold and trembling as it smoldered angrily in his palm. 

Blood. 

All over his hands.

With a cry, he flung himself to his feet, finding new strength born of fear. He fought at the wings of panic that fluttered in his mind, his lips drawn back in a snarl of revulsion as he pushed frantically at the darkness that clawed relentlessly at his heart. Gathering every bit of his will, he _forced the images away from him, locking them in a corner of his mind where they would stay secret, where they could no longer destroy them as they had threatened to moments ago._

For now.

_It¡¯s over¡ªit¡¯s all over¡ªyou¡¯ve already finished the job¡ªyou¡¯ve done it¡ª_

His internal screams of terror echoed through his tortured mind as he wrestled the last of the horrible images from his awareness.

He was panting, his weariness pervading to his very bones as he leaned heavily on a nearby tree for support, letting his head loll limply back until he felt the rough back against the crown of his hair. There he stayed for several moments, willing the roiling despair within him to wash out with the rain as he clung weakly to sanity with the desperation of a drowning kitten.

When he was sufficiently numb, from both the cold and the fact that the last dredges of consciousness were threatening to drain from his grasp, he tottered dizzily to his feet, weaving his way down the alley as he once again set out for his destination.

_The inn._

He was cold, far too cold, his teeth chattering against each other as he drew in on himself, his skin automatically shrinking away from his icy clothing¡ª

_The inn._

The slash across his ribs screamed for his attention, its all-consuming pain sending his thoughts spiraling ever closer into the dull blackness that lingered just beneath his mind, waiting, waiting to catch him¡­

_The inn. _

He could faintly see the familiar kanji labeling the inn¡¯s entrance, straining to keep his dark tunnel of vision from collapsing completely. He knew those designs, knew the way the black letters twisted and turned, although he had never truly learned those characters. 

_Ohagi__._

He tripped¡ªand nearly fell¡ªover the threshold, his hair falling forward in strands as it began to slip free of its holder. Straightening painfully, his hands groping for a wall, a pillar, any form of support¡ªgods no, not here, not now, Katsura-san would _not be pleased¡ªthere were voices around him, one male and one female, voices that were yelling too loudly and too closely for his comfort, his face scrunching in pain as the noise hammered through his skull¡ªsomeone was grabbing him, shaking him¡­_

Calling him?

But he couldn¡¯t be sure, for the painfully loud voices were giving way to a low buzz that filled his ears, his vision swimming and closing in as the last of his strength left him.

Ah yes, there was Katsura-san, his mouth moving although no words seemed to come out. Yes, yes, he had just enough time¡ª

An eerie smile of content kissed his cracked white lips as they parted, a barely audible whisper drifting up to the men. 

¡°I killed him.¡±

And then he was falling, falling into the blank darkness that had clawed at him, his golden eyes rolling back into his head, his senses never even registering the impact of his limp body collapsing to the ground.

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Note:

_Ohagi¡ªaccording to the manga translations I¡¯ve found, Ohagi is the name of the inn where Kenshin and some other Ishin-Shishi are before the Ikedaya affair of the Bakumatsu._

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*Ai*: So, I¡¯ve embarked on my first multi-chaptered fic! I know this first chapter doesn¡¯t seem to go anywhere plot-wise, but just bear with me¡­ It will lead to further, darker (ANGSTIER!) developments between our favorite assassin and certain characters around him that will fill key roles in his dark life. 

Oh, on a sidenote¡­ I¡¯ve been told about my previous fic (Eyes of Blue) that some of my typing comes out a little funny¡­ I¡¯m checking my fic with the ¡®preview¡¯ option ff.net provides, but I¡¯ve tried all I can and I just can¡¯t seem to change anything¡­ So I apologize if it comes out looking really weird and hard to read, but I¡¯m afraid there¡¯s not much I can do.

Yes, I know I¡¯m shamelessly begging for reviews¡­but please, send me a little love note if you want me to follow through with this!


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